Reading/Writing form settings in admin dashboard

mikho

Hello fellow community members!

Recently decided to get back into coding (going from Windows applications to websites) and needed a "real" project to work with and a friend of mine suggested to make a vanilla forums plugin that he needed. So I dived in head first, reading this community and studying other addons/plugins and my first plugin is now almost finished. Only one thing missing Saving the settings in the admin interface that I created.

I'll give a short description on what I'm trying to accomplish:
I have created a trigger to Fire on BeforeSaveDiscussion as I want certain things to happen depending on the Category the discussion is posted.

My settings in the dashboard is really simple, I read the available categories and their CategoryID and list them with checkboxes.
I then read from the config file with the excellent function C() an array with the CategoryID of chosen Categories.
My issue here is that I'm probably doing it the wrong way

This is from my class file

public function Controller_Index($Sender) {
        // Prevent non-admins from accessing this page
        $Sender->Permission($this->GetPluginKey('SettingsPermission'));
        $Sender->SetData('PluginDescription',$this->GetPluginKey('Description'));
        $Validation = new Gdn_Validation();
        $ConfigurationModel = new Gdn_ConfigurationModel($Validation);
        $ConfigurationModel->SetField(array('Plugins.AutoCategory.Categories')); 

        // Set the model on the form.
        $Sender->Form->SetModel($ConfigurationModel);

        // If seeing the form for the first time...
        if ($Sender->Form->AuthenticatedPostBack() === FALSE) {
            // Apply the config settings to the form.
            $Sender->Form->SetData($ConfigurationModel->Data);
        } else {
             $Saved = $Sender->Form->Save();
            if ($Saved) {
                $Sender->StatusMessage = T("Your changes have been saved.");
            }
        }
      // GetView() looks for files inside plugins/PluginFolderName/views/ and returns their full path. Useful!
      $Sender->Render($this->GetView('autocategory.php'));
   }

and this is from my autocategory.php file:

$arrayAutoCategoryCategories = C('Plugins.AutoCategory.Categories');

$CategoryModel = new CategoryModel();
    $UnprocessedCategories = CategoryModel::Categories();
    foreach ($UnprocessedCategories as $Category) {
        if ($Category["CategoryID"] != -1) {
            echo  $this->Form->Checkbox($Category["CategoryID"], 
                                        $Category["Name"] . " ID: " . $Category["CategoryID"], 
                                        ( in_array($Category["CategoryID"],
                                                   $arrayAutoCategoryCategories)) ? array('checked' => "checked") : array('checked'));
            // echo $this->Form->Checkbox()
        } 
    }

This is (I know) not the correct way to do it. Could anyone please guide me or at least point me in the right direction as I've looked at this code so many times that I can't get out of the hamster wheel......

thanks in advance!

R_J

That's all you need:

    public function settingsController_autoCategory_create($sender) {
        $sender->permission($this->getPluginKey('SettingsPermission'));

        $sender->setData('Title', t($this->getPluginKey('Name').' Settings'));
        $sender->setData('Description',$this->getPluginKey('Description'));    

        $sender->addSideMenu('dashboard/settings/plugins');

        // That part is only needed if you want to do anything else than
        // storing the values in config. Normally you wouldn't need it.
        /*
        if ($sender->Form->authenticatedPostBack()) {
            $formPostValues = $sender->Form->formValues();
            // Maybe add an extra setting based on the current settings? Whatever...
        }
        */

        // Get all categories.
        $categories = CategoryModel::categories();  
        // Most of the time you will not need root category.
        unset($categories[-1]);

        // The configuration module does everything you like to achieve automagically!
        $configurationModule = new ConfigurationModule($sender);
        $configurationModule->initialize(array(
            'AutoCategory.Categories' => array(
                'Control' => 'CheckBoxList',
                'LabelCode' => 'Categories',
                'Items' => $categories,
                'Description' => 'Please choose categories where discussions should sink automatically',
                'Options' => array('ValueField' => 'CategoryID', 'TextField' => 'Name')
            )
        ));
        // BAM!
        $configurationModule->renderAll();
    }

R_J

Sorry, forget what I said about $sender/$Sender: the error message was showing code from class.controller not from your plugin...

R_J

Building a setting screen is really easy! There are a lot of helpers you can use. For a category specific example look here: https://github.com/R-J/EventCalendar/blob/master/class.eventcalendar.plugin.php#L121-L139
For a general overview, look at that: https://github.com/R-J/HowToSettings/blob/master/class.howtosettings.plugin.php

R_J

And, if I remember it right, you can also add $sender->setData('Description', t('Whatever')); from Vanilla 2.2 onwards, but you would have to test that...

mikho

@R_J said:
And, if I remember it right, you can also add $sender->setData('Description', t('Whatever')); from Vanilla 2.2 onwards, but you would have to test that...

This part is what is confusing me at this moment, I think I've done the setting correct:

$ConfigurationModel = new Gdn_ConfigurationModel($Validation);
        // $AutosinkinCategoryCategories = C('Plugins.AutosinkinCategory.Categories',"");
        $ConfigurationModel->SetField(array(
            'Plugins.AutosinkinCategory.Categories'
        )); 
        // Set the model on the form.
        $Sender->Form->SetModel($ConfigurationModel);

        // If seeing the form for the first time...
        if ($Sender->Form->AuthenticatedPostBack() === FALSE) {
            // Apply the config settings to the form.

            $Sender->Form->SetData($ConfigurationModel->Data);

But how do I create one checkbox for each category that I have and assign the value from $ConfigurationModel->Data ?

a print_r of Plugins.AutosinkinCategory.Categories looks like this: Array ( [0] => 5 [1] => 6 )

that means that Categories with ID 5 and 6 should have their checkboxes checked.
When I hit the Save button it should save the data to the config file again.

Hope this makes it clearer with what I'm trying to accomplish.

And THANK YOU for taking the time to read and trying to help me, really appriciate it.

R_J

That's all you need:

    public function settingsController_autoCategory_create($sender) {
        $sender->permission($this->getPluginKey('SettingsPermission'));

        $sender->setData('Title', t($this->getPluginKey('Name').' Settings'));
        $sender->setData('Description',$this->getPluginKey('Description'));    

        $sender->addSideMenu('dashboard/settings/plugins');

        // That part is only needed if you want to do anything else than
        // storing the values in config. Normally you wouldn't need it.
        /*
        if ($sender->Form->authenticatedPostBack()) {
            $formPostValues = $sender->Form->formValues();
            // Maybe add an extra setting based on the current settings? Whatever...
        }
        */

        // Get all categories.
        $categories = CategoryModel::categories();  
        // Most of the time you will not need root category.
        unset($categories[-1]);

        // The configuration module does everything you like to achieve automagically!
        $configurationModule = new ConfigurationModule($sender);
        $configurationModule->initialize(array(
            'AutoCategory.Categories' => array(
                'Control' => 'CheckBoxList',
                'LabelCode' => 'Categories',
                'Items' => $categories,
                'Description' => 'Please choose categories where discussions should sink automatically',
                'Options' => array('ValueField' => 'CategoryID', 'TextField' => 'Name')
            )
        ));
        // BAM!
        $configurationModule->renderAll();
    }

R_J

And if you are beginning writing plugins for Vanilla, take a look at the coding standards: https://github.com/vanilla/addons/tree/master/standards/Vanilla

Moreover I have changed Plugins.AutosinkinCategory.Categories to AutosinkinCategory.Categories. I guess it was @hgtonight who told me that the Plugins prefix will not be used in future times, but I'm not really sure about that.

mikho

Haven't read your replies properly yet but are you saying that all I need is those few lines of code?
And then any admin can set which categories they want from the dashboard?

If that is true then I was really in the wrong place.. I will read the links about coding standards and try your suggestions tonigh when I get home from work.

R_J

Yes, the configuration module is made exactly for that: all you need are a very few lines of code to present a beautiful settings screen!

Try the snippet I posted above to see its magic

hgtonight

@R_J said:

Moreover I have changed Plugins.AutosinkinCategory.Categories to AutosinkinCategory.Categories. I guess it was hgtonight who told me that the Plugins prefix will not be used in future times, but I'm not really sure about that.

http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/27858/plugins-namespace

mikho

Hello again!
sorry for the late follow up.

Had some time late last night and tried the code pasted by @R_J and got this wierd json_encode recursive error?

The error occurred on or near: /public_html/library/core/class.controller.php
674:                  (isset($this->ReflectArgs['Sender']) && $this->ReflectArgs['Sender'] instanceof Gdn_Pluggable)
675:                ))
676:             $ReflectArgs = json_encode(array_slice($this->ReflectArgs, 1));
677:          else
678:             $ReflectArgs = json_encode($this->ReflectArgs);
679:          
680:          $this->_Definitions['ResolvedArgs'] = $ReflectArgs;
681:       }
682: 

row 678 is highlighted in red if that helps.

One thing I noticed is that I tried to create a plugin using the "guide" here http://docs.vanillaforums.com/developers/plugins/quickstart/

the code above says: public function settingsController_autoCategory_create($sender) {
but my original code had: public function PluginController_autoCategory_create($Sender) {

Is the docs outdated or have I misunderstood something with the code above?

R_J

Have you really copy and pasted it only? The error message has a capitalized "$Sender" while I was only using "$sender". Has that been part of your question? Since $sender is the variable name I define in my local scope, I can choose which spelling I like and $sender adheres to the new naming conventions. In Vanilla 2.1 you'll only find $Sender, though. It's completely up to you.

But I guess your question has something to do with the first part of the function name: settingsController vs. PluginController. It is just a matter of taste. There is nothing in the settingsController that you need for your plugin. So you could use the much leaner pluginsController.
The controller you extend determines the address that you have to call to reach your function. If you extend the pluginController, the address would be yourforum.com/plugin/autocat, if you extend settingsController it would be yourforum.com/settings/autocat and that's why I prefer the settingsController. But if you compare pluginController and settingsController you see that settingsController is bloated (but it is the boards settings, so who cares? THat's at least my opinion)

If you look at the pluginController, you see that it is nothing more than the dashboard controller. So you could theoretically use public function dashboardController_autoCategory_create($sender) {... and reach your settings screen with yourforum.com/dashboard/autocat.

Just do what you like and what "feels" best to you. But remember that you have to give the corresponding address in the PluginInfo: 'SettingsUrl' => '/controllerNameYouHaveChosen/autoCategory',

R_J

Sorry, forget what I said about $sender/$Sender: the error message was showing code from class.controller not from your plugin...

mikho

I did copy/paste it as you posted but noticed the difference in upper/lowecase in $sender so I "updated" it to be same case (lower) everywhere in my files.

Your answer did help! I am using Vanilla 2.1.11 so when I changed EVERY $sender to $Sender it works!

Now I only need to look at the BeforeSaveDiscussion_handler since I need to read the config values from another place then where I did before.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

R_J

How you write $sender isn't really important as long as you stay consistent.
If you have public function settingsController_autoCat_create($sender), the $sender is an instance(? Sorry, I'm not fluent with OOP wordings) of the settingsController. So you could as well write
public function settingsController_autoCat_create($settingsController)
public function settingsController_autoCat_create($s)
... or whatever. You simply have to use the same variable everywhere you use it. ($sender, $args) is just Vanilla convention meaning $sender = the controller that has fired the event, $args = arguments (if any) passed together with the hook.

mikho

I was consistent in my original code using $Sender
When I pasted your code I changed it to $sender everywhere in my code which gave me the recursive error. So I changed every $sender instance to $Sender as the error message said

(isset($this->ReflectArgs['Sender']) && $this->ReflectArgs['Sender'] instanceof Gdn_Pluggable)

with a Capital S. that cleared the error and I could continue.